Aircraft control apparatus



Nov. 13, 1951 1.. w. GORDON 2,574,916

AIRCRAFT CONTROL APPARATUS Filed May 2, 1946' 3 Sheets-Sheet l 172067225) lawremfld/Gbrdon RN y-W WM Z Nov. 13, 1951 L. w. GORDON AIRCRAFTCONTROL A PPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 2, 1946 law/612ccM/Gardazz Nov. 13, 1951 w, GORDON 2,574,916

AIRCRAFT CONTROL APPARATUS Filed May 2, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG.6

Ill

||||| I mumnlmlllm lNVEN-TOR. LAW ENCE w. GORDON fwd ATT'YS PatentedNov. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIRCRAFT CONTROL APPARATUSLawrence Wright Gordon, Lancaster, Calif.

Application May 2, 1946, Serial No. 666,607

This invention relates in general to aircraft control apparatus and isdirected particularly to an apparatus for controlling the controllableelements of aircraft, such as the rudder, elevators and ailerons, solelybymeans of pedals. I H

Previous attempts have been made to incorporate into aircraft varioustypes of apparatus whereby the plane can be controlled with the feet,leaving the pilot's hands free for other purposes. Such devices as havebeen suggested pre- 4 Claims.. (Cl. 244986).

viously, however, have had certain disadvantages,

ailerons, have had to be manipulated by hand.

Furthermore, most of these earlier devices have not been too dependablebecause they have been controlled by lever arms and fulcrums rather thanby positively operated means.

In my invention I overcome these various objections and have been ableto provide an apparatus entirely governed by gear mechanism wheremovements of the controllable elements can all be made simultaneously,or independently, or any two of the elements can becombined. Also themovements required 'to'maneuver the plane are very similar to thoserequired in conventional aircraft and thus results in less conversiontraining for the pilot.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is, therefore, toprovide an aircraft with pedal operated means to control the movementsthereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide an aircraft with pedaloperated means whereby any or all of the controllable elements whichcontrol the movements thereof can be controlled independently orsimultaneously at the option of the pilot.

A further object of the invention is to provide an aircraft, having arudder, elevators and ailerons, with pedal operated means which can bepedipulated to move or control anyone, any two or all three of thoseelements at the option of the pilot. 7

Still another object of the invention is to proof the controllableelements thereof.

A still further object of the invention is to pro. vide an aircraft withtwo independently operated pedals connected to controllable elements,such as the rudder, elevators and ailerons, in such a way thatpedipulation of the pedals in one manner will move only one of thoseelements, pedipulation in a secondmanner will move only another of theelements, and in a third manner will move the third of the elements, orthe pedals can be operated to move any two or all three of the elementssimultaneously.

Another object of the invention is to provide pedal operatedmeansforcontrolling the movements of an aircraft'inwhich is alsoincorporated a braking mechanism which will operate the same as inconventional types of controls.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent byreferring to the following description in conjunction with theaccompanye ing drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a planview of the mechanism embody:- ing my invention showingthe gear box with the cover removed therefrom;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the gear box takensubstantially along the plane of line 22 of Fig. '1 showing a part ofthe mechanism in side elevation;-

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation showing one of the pedals and itsconnecting parts;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken substantiallyalong the plane ofline 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detailed'section taken substantially along the plane of line5-5 of Fig. 4. f

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of the apparatus showing the controlsurfaces in relation to the apparatus; and

- Fig. '7 is an elevational view of the aileron control gears takenalong the lines 1--'! of Fig. 6.

Briefly stated, my invention embodies the use of two gear trains, eachof which is connected to a pedal in the cockpit of theplane. A planetarygear unit is disposed at one end of the two gear trains, which unitincludes two sun gears and a plurality of planetary gears in meshthere-, with. One gear train is connected to one of the sun gears andthe other gear train to the other sun gear. The planetary gears are allmounted on a rotatable support connected to one of the controllableelements, and which, in the embodiment of the invention shown, is therudder.

A second planetary gear unit is also mounted so as to be actuated byoperation of the pedals and is adapted to control the elevators. Theailerons are-connected indirectly to the shaft on which each pedal ismounted. The connections between the pedals and the various controllableunits is such, in the form of the invention illustrated, that when bothpedals, are pushed or pulled simultaneously, the sun gears of theplanetary gear unit connected to the elevators will rotate in the samedirection, thus carrying with them the planetary gears and move theelevators. At the same time simultaneous pushing or pulling of thepedals will rotate the sun gears of the planetary gear unit connected tothe rudder in opposite directions at equal speeds of rotation, wherebythe planetary gears in mesh therewith will rotate but will not revolve,and therefore will cause no movement of the rudder. The ailerons areactuated by pivoting the pedals to the right or left so as to rotate theshaft on which each is mounted.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the details of theinvention may be seen in Figs. 1 and 2 where I provide a gear box 2normally having a cover 4 thereon. Within the gear box I provide atransversely extending shaft 6 between the sides of the gear box at eachend of which is provided rotatable sleeves 8 and I8. These sleevessupport the shaft 6 and are themselves mounted in bearings I2 and I4respectively.

At one side of the gear box a gear I 6 is mounted on the sleeve 8,having a concave toothed periphery. At the opposite side of the gear boxa similar gear I8 is mounted on the sleeve I8.

An elongated tubular member 28 at one side of the gear box is providedwith annular teeth, or grooves 22 so as to mesh with the gear I6,causing rotation of the gear when the tube 28 is axially reciprocated.The tube 28 is mounted for longitudinal movement on a rod 24 which issplined as at 26 and thus connected to tubular member 28. It will thusbe seen that when the tube 28 is reciprocated axially it will slide onthe rod 24 causing rotation of the gear I6, but if it is rotated it willcause no movement of the gear I6, but will impart a rotary movement tothe shaft or rod 24 by reason of the splined connection 26. The lowerend of the rod 24 passes through bearings 28 in a support 38, and isbifurcated at its lower end as at 32.

A support 34 is secured to one end of the gear box and extends outwardlyso as to terminate in a bearing 36, which supports a stub shaft 38 onwhich is mounted a gear 48. The other end of the shaft 38 is securedwithin the bifurcated end 32 of the rod 24 by means of the pins 42 tothereby provide a universal joint. The support 34 also has mountedthereon a shaft 44 having a gear 46 mounted thereon and in mesh with thegear 48. Any suitable means may be used to connect the rod 44 to one ofthe ailerons, such means being conventional and not shown here.

At the opposite side of the gear box a similar arrangement is providedwhere the tubular member 48 has circular teeth 58 thereon and is mountedon the rod 52. The bearing member 54 supports the lower end of the rodwhich terminates in the bifurcated portion 55 and forms a similaruniversal joint 58 and likewise supports the gear 68 in mesh with thegear 62 on the shaft 64. Splines on the rod 52 and within the tube 48will cause rotation of the rod when the tube is rotated and, by means ofthe universal joint 58, will cause rotation of the gear 68 in 4 62 bymeans of a gear 63, as shown in Fig. 7, so that both pedals will work inunison for control of the ailerons.

Referring momentarily to Fig. 3 which shows the pedal construction andits connection to the tubular member 28, or 48, it will be seen thatthis member 28 is supported in a bracket 66 and at its upper end, whichextends beyond the gear box, has an upturned portion 68 to which thepedal 18 is pivoted at 12. 'I'he'pedal is provided with a strap I4 sothat the pilot can exert a pull on the pedal when desired.

One of the advantage of this construction is that the conventional brakemechanism can be applied thereto. That is, the cylinder 16 is secureddirectly to the tubular member and has a piston 18 slidable therein,which piston is pivmesh with the gear 62 which, in turn, is mounted.

on the shaft 64 connected to the other aileron.

It may be desirable to connect the gears 46 and otally mounted to theunder side of the pedal l8 at the toe portion thereof as at 88. Bypivoting the pedal about the pivot point I2 the piston I8 will beactuated to apply the brakes in the conventional and well known manner.The construction of the pedal and its attachment to the toothed tubularmember is identical at both sides of the gear box so that a descriptionof one will sufiice for both. It will be noted that either a downwardpush or an upward pull of either or both pedals will rotate either orboth of the gears I6, or I 8, with which the tubular members are inmesh, and that a rotation of either or both pedals about an axis in thesame plane as that of the tubular member connected therewith willactuate the aileron connected thereto through the means above described.

The mechanism which is operated to actuate or control another of thecontrollable elements, in this case the elevators, includes a planetarygear arrangement to be actuated upon a pushing or pulling of both pedalssimultaneously. At the inner end of the sleeve 8, a bevel gear 82 ismounted and a similar bevel gear 84 is mounted for rotation at the innerend of sleeve I8. These represent the sun gears of the planetary unit.Between these two gears are the planetary gears 86, 88, 98 and 92, eachin mesh with the two sun gears 82 and 84. 2 The planetary gears aremounted on a spider arrangement consisting of the four shafts 84, 96, 98and I88, which are mounted apart at the center of the shaft 6.

Shafts 98 and I88 extend beyond the respective planetary gears 98 and92, and support the ends of a semi-circular rack I82 which is adapted tobe in mesh with a pinion I84 secured to the shaft I86. This latter shaftextends beyond the sides of the gear box and has secured to the endsthereof any suitable means adapted to actuate the elevators when theshaft is-rotated. Such means are well known in the art, and are notshown here. As stated hereinbefore, a pushing or pulling of the pedals18 will reciprocate the toothed tubular members 28 and 48 to rotate thegears I6 and I8. These gears also being mounted on the sleeves 8 and I8respectively, will cause rotation thereof together with the respectivesun gears 82 and-84 mounted thereon. It will be clear that when the twogears 82 and 84 are rotated in opposite directions at equal speeds ofrotation the planetary gears, while they will rotat about their ownaxes, will remain stationary as far as the shaft 6 is concerned, andwill not revolve about that'shaft. When the planetary gears remainstationary with respect to the shaft 6, there will be no movement ofeither the rack I82 or the gear I84, and thus no movement.

of the elevators. This occurs when one pedal is pushed downwardly andthe other is pulled up-- wardly. y

If, however, both pedals are operated in the same wa simultaneously,that :is'to say if they are both pressed downwardly or pulled; upwardlyat the same time, then the sunagears 62 and84 will both rotate in thesame direction and force the planetary gears to revolve about shaft 6 asan axis, thus causing the entire gear unit to rotate. When this occursthe revolution of the planetary gears 90 and 92 will cause a rotation ineither direction of the semi-circular rack I02 and the pinion I04 inmesh therewith, which in turn will cause a rotation ofthe shaft I 06'and the elevator control means connected thereto. Itwill be clear thatthis planetary gear unit may take a form other than bevel gears asshown, such gears being merely illustrative of the pre-- ferredembodimentof the invention.

To actuate the third controllable element, in this case the rudder, Iprovide a geartrain at each side of the gear box, each adapted to beoperated independently of the other, and each of which terminates in asimilar planetary gear unit at one end thereof. At one side of theapparatus the gear train consists of a pinion I08 mounted on the sleeve8 in mesh with the gear IIO mounted on and secured to a shaft II2 whichextends between the sides of the gear box and is journalled therein. Abevel gear H4 is also mounted on the shaft II2 adjacent the gear H0 andhas in mesh therewith the bevel gear I I6 having a shaft II8 journalledin a supporting bearing I20. The shaft I I8 has a spur gear I22 mountedon the end thereof in mesh with a similar spur gear I24 mounted on thelarge tubular shaft or sleeve I26, which is also supported .in thebearing I20 and through which another shaft, to be later described,passes. The bevel gear I28 is mounted on the end of shaft I26 and formsone of the sun gears of the planetary unit which controls the rudder. Itwill thus be seen that a rotation of gear II6 by reciprocation of thetube 20 will rotate the bevel gear I28 through'the gear train justdescribed.

At the opposite side of the apparatus a similar gear train is locatedand is adapted to be actuated by operation of the pedal whichreciprocates the tube 48. This gear train consists of the pinion I30mounted on the sleeve I0 in mesh with the gear I 32 mounted on the shaftI I2 adjacent which the bevel gear I34 is located also on the shaft H2and is in mesh with the bevel gear I36. This latter gear is mounted atone end of the shaft I 38 supported in the bearing I20, and carriesthe-gear I46 in mesh with the gear I42 mounted on the shaft I44 whichpasses through the sleeve. I26 and has the other sun gear I46 mounted atthe end thereof. It will thus be seen that the bevel gear I46 will berotated through the gear train by operation of the pedal connected tothe tube 48.

The planetary gears I48 are four in number and are in mesh with both ofthe sun gears I28 and I46. These planetary gears are mounted on a frame550 which is secured to the shaft I52, which in turn is connected by thecustomary means to the rudder, so that a rotation of the shaft I52 willactuate the rudder and thus be controlled by operation of the pedals.

By following through the direction of rotation of the various gears ineach of the gear trains, it will be evident that when both of the pedalsare either pushed downwardly or pulled upwardly simultaneously, thebevel gears I28 and I46 will rotate in opposite directions to thus causerotation of the planetary gears I48, but will not perthem to revolve SOthat the shaft I52 will remain stationary. If, however, one of thepedals is pushed downwardly and the other is pulled upwardly'simultaneously, these two sun gears I28 and I46 will be caused to rotatein the same direction and will thus cause the planetary gears to revolveand the shaft I52 to rotate by reason of the connection thereto of theframe I50.

I have explained above that the simultaneous pushing or pulling of bothpedals would actuate the elevators through the planetary gear unit whichincludes the sun gears 82 and 84. It will also be clear that when thisoperation of the pedals takes place, the rudder will remain sta- Vtionary because the gears I28 and I46 will rotate der to move because itwill cause a rotation of the gears I28 and I46 in the same direction.

Furthermore, the actuation of the ailerons may be caused in combinationwith either of these pedal movements if either one or both pedals arerotated each about its own axis causing a rotation of the rods 24 and52.

It will thus be clear that either the ailerons, the elevators, or therudder can be operated with out actuating either of the other elements.Also, movement of the ailerons can take place simultaneously withmovement of either the elevators or the rudder. If it is desired tooperate the elevators and rudder together, it is merely necessary tooperate one of the pedals only, while the other remains stationary. Forexample, supposing the pedal connected to the tube 20 is depressed andthe other pedal is held stationary. This will cause not only a rotationof the sun gear 82 and a revolving of the planetary gears 86, 88, 90 and92 connected thereto, because the gear 84 remains stationary, but willalso rotate the sun gear I 28 and cause the planetary gears to revolvebecause the other sun gear I46 remains stationary. If this movement iscombined with a turning of the pedal about its own axis, one of theailerons will be actuated. Thus it will be seen that not only each ofthe controllable elements can be actuated individually, but any two orall three thereof can be actuated simultaneously at the option of thepilot.

In Fig. 6 the complete control apparatus is illustrateddiagrammatically. The housing 2 encloses the gear arrangements whichoperate the elevators I54 and I56 through the shaft I06, the pulleysI58, I60, I62 and I64 and the belts or wire ropes I66 and I68. Therudder I10 is operated by the shaft I52 and the assembly I72. Theailerons I14 and I76 are actuated by their respective pulleyarrangements I18 and I80 and the drive shafts 64 and 44.

Thus all maneuvering of the plane can be done solely by correctoperation of the pedals, leaving the hands of the pilot free for otherduties. One of the distinct advantages of this construction is the factthat all of the controls and movements of the feet are similar to thosein conventional aircraft, so that very little conversion training isnecessary for a pilot to learn to control the'plane by the use of myinvention. It will be clear to those skilled in the art that otherspecific mechanism than that disclosed herein can be used without in anyway departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of theattendant advantages. For example, the specific form of gear train maybe modified and the particular type of planetary gear units shown hereinmay take any other suitable form provided, however, that the principleof the invention and the spirit thereof be retained.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

1. In an aircraft having ailerons, elevators and a rudder, two pedalsmounted for rotation and independent reciprocation, means connectingsaid pedals with the ailerons whereby rotation of either or both of saidpedals will actuate the ailerons, and means connecting said pedals withthe elevators and rudder in such a way that simultaneous movement of thepedals in the same direction will actuate the elevators only, andsimultaneous movement of the pedals in opposite directions will actuatethe rudder only.

2. In an aircraft having ailerons, elevators and a rudder, two pedalsmounted for rotation and independent reciprocation, a tubular memberhaving annular grooves therein connected to each pedal and adapted torotate and reciprocate therewith, means connected between said tubularmembers and the ailerons whereby rotation thereof will actuate theailerons, and gear means connecting said tubular members with theelevators and rudder whereby simultaneous reciprocation of said pedalsand tubular members in a predetermined manner will actuate either theelevators or rudder only.

3. In an aircraft having controllable elements to control the movementsthereof, two pedals mounted for rotation and independent reciprocation,two tubular members, each one connected to a pedal and adapted to rotateand reciprocate therewith, a rod within each tubular member and soconnected thereto as to rotate therewith, but

permit-said-member to slide longitudinally'there on, and meansconnecting each of said rods with one of said controllable elementswhereby rotation of said rod will actuate the element connected thereto.4; In an aircraft having controllable elements to control the flightthereof, two pedals mounted for rotation and reciprocation, two tubularmembers each having annular grooves thereon and each member connected toa pedal and adapted to be rotated and reciprocated therewith, a pinionin mesh with the grooves on each of said tubular members and adapted tobe rotated when said pedals are reciprocated, gear means operativelyassociated with said pinions and operable upon rotation of said pinionsto control at least one of said controllable elements, and gear meansoperatively associated with said pedals and tubu-' lar members andoperable upon rotation of said pedals and tubular members connectedtherewith to control the aileron portion of said controllable elements.

LAWRENCE WRIGHT GORDON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,371,815 Rose Mar. 15, 19211,576,079 'Barlow Mar. 9, '1926 1,813,468 Snyer July 7, 1931 1,844,607Sikorsky Feb. 9, 1932 1,864,329 Volk June 21, 1932 2,005,061 Thomas June18, 1935 2,020,440 Stein Nov. 12, 1935 2,048,448 Hoper July 21, 19362,209,144 Vogt July 23, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 20,049Great Britain of 1911 442,952 I Germany Apr. 12, 1927

